Little Child

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"Little Child"
Little Child cover
Song by Marilyn Manson
Recorded 1999–2000 at the Mansion in Death Valley, California
Genre Alternative metal
Writer Wes Montgomery
Composer Wes Montgomery
Producer Marilyn Manson, Dave Sardy
External links Search ISRC
Musicstax-com.jpg Search at Musicstax

"Little Child" (also known as "Little Child (Daddy Dear)", "Mommy Dear" and "Mon Enfant", "L'Homme et L'Enfant") was recorded by Marilyn Manson during Holy Wood (In the Shadow of the Valley of Death) sessions, but remains unreleased in its entirety as yet. The song was released as a low-quality one-minute recording in a podcast, along with a low-quality recording of another rare, yet unreleased set of songs titled "Jack Eats Dinner" and "Compass and the Ruler", and a fourth song in high-quality, a cover of Charles Manson's "Sick City". Before playing "The Fight Song" in Los Angeles, California on December 20, 2004, Manson sung a handful of lines from both this and "Lamb of God", however this is the only time the song has been heard live.

The Original Song[edit]

The song was written by Wayne Shanklin and the first recorded (under the title "Little Boy And The Old Man") by Frankie Laine and Jimmy Boyd in 1953. The same recording was re-released later in 1955 as "Little Child" and was also covered (with newly written lyrics changing the child/adult relationship from "little child/old man" to "father/daughter") that year by Danny Kaye. The following year the song became a modest hit single for Eddie Albert and Sondra Lee. Other artists to record the song include Cab Calloway, a French version which was also the title song (which became a #1 hit in that country) of the French movie L'homme et l'enfant (1956) and a jazz version by Wes Montgomery in 1966. The most famous version of the song was performed (as 'Mommy Dear') in the Samuel Fuller film 'The Naked Kiss' (1964).

Versions[edit]

  • "Little Child" (Demo)

Audio & Video[edit]

The original audio from the video from mariylnmanson.net
The original recorded version by Frankie Laine and Jimmy Boyd (1953)
The scene from Samuel Fuller's The Naked Kiss (1964) were the song is performed.


Lyrics[edit]

The lyrics below are not complete in the sense that the song does continue, by implication. The only publicly known clip of the song in existence runs for a minute and two second (1:02), and so the lyrics below reflect what is heard in the released clip.

    Mommy dear tell me please, is the world really round?
    Tell me where is the bluebird of happiness found
    Tell me why is the sky up above us so blue
    And when you were a child, did your mommy tell you
    What becomes...

See also[edit]